Hinge construction



Ap i 6, 1943. R. E. WE 2,315,801

HINGEL CONSTRUCTION Filed March 50, 1942 Q BY 0 HTTOIPIYE) I gipmmvmkPatented Apr. 6, 1943 HINGE CONSTRUCTION Roy E. Lave, Homewood, Ill.,assignor to Apex Railway Products 00.,

tion of Delaware Chicago, Ill., a corpora- Application March 30, 1942,,Serial No. 436,850

8 Claims. (01. 16-172) This invention relates to improvements in hingeconstructions and it consists of the matters hereinafter described andmore particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple andinexpensive hinge construction especially adapted for use in arefrigerator car for connecting the floor racks to the car so that theracks may be swung from their horizontal position upon the floor of thecar, into a substantially upright position along the side of the car topermit of a cleaning of the floor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hinge construction forthe purpose mentioned which does not project above the top surface ofthe associated rack when in its horizontal position upon the floor ofthe car so that the hinge construction in no manner interferes with theloading of commodities into the car.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hinge construction,which after it is installed in a car, involves no parts that may becomeloose or lost, or require removal when the floor racks are removed fromthe car for repair or replacement.

Again, it is an object of the invention to provide a hinge constructionof this kind wherein a simple turning movement of one of the parts ofthehinge in one direction permits of its attachment to the pintle part ofthe hinge and a turning f The above mentioned objects of the invention,

as'well as others, together with the advantages thereof will more fullyappear as the specification proceeds. In the drawing: I Fig. 1 is a topplan view of a hinge construction embodying the preferred form of theinvention, when the parts thereof are disposed in operative relationwith respect to parts of a refrigerator car with which they areassociated.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through a part of the improved hingeconstruction, as taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and shows the parts inthe normal position they occupy when thefloor rack is operativelysecured in place to the car.

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of certain parts of the hinge, in theposition they occupy when permitting a separation of said parts for aremoval of the floor rack from the car.

haped member employed inthe improved hinge construction and which .willbe more fully referred to later.

Fig. 5 is a perspective vieW of a certain ledge plate employed in theimproved hinge construction. and which will be more fully referred tolater..

Fig. '6 is a perspective view, on a reduced scale,

of a floor rack section for a refrigerator car and carrying certainpartsof the improved hinge construction. v Referring now in detail tothat embodiment of the invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawing,It indicates a part ofthe siding of a refrigerator car and H indicates apart of the fixed floor of the car. The fixed floor of such a car isusually covered by open flooring made up of a plurality, of racksections, one of which appear in perspective in Fig. 6 and is indicatedas a whole as at l2. As shown, each rack constitutes a plurality oflaterally spaced planks l3, of a length equal to half the width of thecar floor l l,'fixed to stringers l4-l4. These stringers l4 normallyrest upon and extend longitudinally of the car floor and support theplanks in a position elevated above the car floor a distance equal tothe thickness of the stringers. The racks l2 protect the car floor andpermit circulation of cold air under and about the lading of the can.

Along one lateral margin of each floor rack section, I provide a'pair ofhinge pintles l5l5 each fixed, as by welding, at its ends in the sidelegs lB-IB of an associated U shaped element ll recessed into andsecured in said margins of the rack section, as best appears in Fig. 6.

For each pintle 15, Isecure to the inner face of the side of the carnear the floor, a plate It by means of bolts l9. Preferably each platei8 fitsin a recess 10a (see'Fig Z) in the side of the car so that thefront face of said plate is f1ush with the innersurface of the carsiding l0. At the bottom margin of thisplate is a projecting houlder orledge 26, which extends longitudinally of the car and which projectstoward the center of the car. Centrally on the outer side of said plateis fixed a nut 2 l, the purpose of which will appear later. The sidingill of the car is suitably recessed to accommodate said nut.

Associated with each pintle l5 and plate i8 is a U shaped hinge member22, best appearing in perspective in Fig. 4. Said member includes a pairof laterally spaced arms 23, which are joined together at their innerends by a connecting plate portion 24. Centrally in this plate portionis a hole 25 adapted to register with the nut 21 on the ledge plate l8.One arm 23 is formed to provide a semicircular, upwardly opening recess26 in its upper margin and the other arm is formed to provide asemicircular downwardly facing recess 26 in its lower margin. Saidrecesses have substantially the same axis and face in oppositedirections. The recesses 2626, which have a diameter approximating thatof the pintles l5-l5 before mentioned, define at the outer ends of thearms 23-23, oppositely facing portions 212'l, the ends of which have anoverlapping relation, as best appears in Fig. 2 and impart a hook shapeto the outer end of each arm.

Each U shaped member is mounted on its associated ledge plate by meansof a bolt 28 whichpasses freely through the hole 25 in the connectingportion 24 and through the ledge plate l8 to have a threaded engagementin the nut 2! carried by said plate.

When the bolt is turned in one direction and drawn up fairly tight, itholds the connecting member against the inner face of the associatedledge plate l8. When said parts are in this position the bottom edge ofthe connecting member 24 engages on the ledge 29 so that the U-shapedmember 22 is held against turning movement about the axis of the bolt28. However, when the bolt is turned in the other direction, it backsout of the nut 2i and when it has been backed out a distance greaterthan the width of the ledge or shoulder 29, the U shaped member 22 canmove outwardly on the bolt, toward its head, so as to clear the ledge.When said member has cleared the ledge, it may be turned about the axisof the bolt into the position shown in Fig. 3 so that the pintle isreleased from the grasp or engagement of the arms 23-43 to permit awithdrawal of the pintle therefrom and a separation of the rack from theremainder of the hinge construction.

It is apparent that there is a pair of the structures shown in Figs. 1and 2 for each fioor rack used in the car. Assume that each rack I2 isprovided with a pair of the pintles l5 in one of its margins and thatthere is a pair of the parts shown in Fig. 3 fixed to the side of thecar for each rack.

To apply a rack in place, the bolts 28-428 are unscrewed so that theconnecting plates of the associated U shaped member are disposed in aplane spaced to clear the ledge 20 of the associated plates !8l8. Each Ushaped member 22 is then turned about the axis of the associated bolt sothat the ends of the hook arms 2'l2'| are disposed upon opposite sidesof the axis of the bolt. This leaves a space or mouth 29 (see Fig. 3) ineach U shaped member through which the pintles on the rack may beinserted when the rack is in a substantially horizontal position on thefloor H. When the rack is moved inwardly toward the siding Hi, thepintle will pass through said mouth or space to line up with theoppositely facing recesses 2E26 of the arms.

The U-shaped members are then each turned about its associated bolt 28so that the arms 2323 engage opposite sides of the pintle. Said U-shapedmembers are then moved inwardly on their bolts 23-28 until theconnecting plates 24 thereof engage the ledge plates and the bottom edgeof said connecting plates rest or engage upon the ledge of theassociated ledge plate. Thereafter, the bolts 23 are threaded into thenuts 2! until the head presses the look washer firmly against theconnecting plate portion 2 5.. This, of course, holds the U-shapedmembers 2222 in place against a turning movement or a movement in thedirection of the length of the bolt.

The pintles are, therefore, confined in operative relation in theU-shaped members 22-22 so that the rack may be swung about the pintlesinto a position substantially parallel with the side of the car for acleaning of the floor ll of the car. After the fioor has been cleaned,the racks may be swung down into position upon said floor.

Should it be desired to remove the racks l2, it is obvious that byreversing the operation of the parts as described in connection withsocuring the racks in position, they will be freed for removal.

It is to be noted that no part of the hinge construction is disposedabove the surface of the rack so that no interference with the loadingof commodities into the car is present. After the hinge structures havebeen installed, there are no loose parts to be removed and possibly belost, in the removal of the racks for repair or. replacement.

While in describing the invention I have referred in detail to the formand arrangement of the parts involved, the same is to be considered onlyin the illustrative sense and not in the limiting sense.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a hinge construction adapted for use between a stationary part anda second part adapted for a swinging movement with respect to thestationary part, means adapted for at tachment to one of said parts soas to provide a pintle therefor, a hinge element adapted to be carriedby the other of said parts and including laterally spaced, oppositelyfacing hook shape arms for engagement with opposite sides of said pintleto provide a bearing for said pintle, and a plate portion connecting oneend of said arms, aplate member, a bolt extending through the plateportion of said hinge element and having a threaded engagement in saidplate memher, said plate member having a ledge portion for engagement bysaid plate portion of the hinge element when said bolt is drawn upsubstantially tight so as to hold said hinge element against turning onsaid bolt.

2. In a hinge construction for use between a stationary part and asecond part adapted for a swinging movement with respect thereto, meansadapted for attachment to one of said parts to provide a pintletherefor, a hinge element having oppositely facing hook shape armsadapted when said element is in one position for bearing engagement withopposite sides of spaced portions of said pintle, means adapted to beattached to the other of said parts and upon, which said hinge elementis so mounted as to be turnable about an axis at a right angle to saidpintle from a position providing said bearing engagement with saidpintle to a position wherein said pintle and said arms may be relativelyseparated, and coacting means on said hinge element and upon said meansupon which it is mounted for holding said element against turning aboutsaid axis into that position wherein said pintle and said arms may berelatively separated.

3. In a hinge construction for use between a stationary part and asecond part adapted for a swinging movement with respect thereto, meansadapted for attachment to one of said parts to provide a pintletherefor, a hinge element having oppositely facing hook shape armsadapted when said element is in one position for bearing engagement withopposite sides of spaced portions of said pintle, means adapted to beattached to the other of said parts and upon which said hinge element isso mounted as to be turnable about an axis at a right angle to saidpintle from a position providing said bearing engagement with saidpintle to a position wherein said pintle and said arms may be relativelyseparated, said means providing said mounting being operative to permitmovement of said hinge element in a direction parallel with said axisinto positions toward and away from said pintle, and means operative toengage and hold said hinge element against a turning movement about saidaxis when said hinge element is in one of said positions.

4. In a hinge construction for use between a stationary part and asecond part adapted for a swinging movement with respect thereto, meansadapted for attachment to one of said parts to provide a pintletherefor, a hinge element having oppositely facing hook shape armsadapted when said element is in one position for bearing engagement withopposite sides of spaced portions of said pintle, means adapted forattachment to the other of said parts, a bolt arranged at a right angleto said pintle and extending through a portion of said hinge element andhaving a threaded connection with said means adapted for attachment tosaid other of said parts, said bolt providing an axis about which thehinge element may be turned from a position wherein said arms have abearing engagement with said pintle into a position wherein said armsand said pintle may be relatively separated, means carried by said meansadapted for attachment to said other of said parts and adapted forengagement by a part of said hinge element, to prevent its turning uponsaid bolt and which bolt may be turned to permit movement of the hingeelement in the direction of the length of the bolt into a positionbeyond the influence of said last mentioned means so as to be turnableupon said bolt into a position permitting the relative separationbetween said arms and said pintle.

5. In a hinge construction for use between a stationary part and asecond part adapted for a swinging movement with respect thereto, meansadapted for attachment to one of said parts to provide a pintletherefor, a hinge element having oppositely facing hook shape armsadapted when said element is in one position for hearing engagement withopposite sides of spaced portions of said pintle, a plate portionconnecting one end of said arms together, a plate member adapted to befixed to said other of said parts, a bolt extending through said plateportion and having a threaded engagement in said plate member, saidplate member including a ledge portion for engagement by said plateportion so as to prevent the turning of the hinge element upon said boltwhen said bolt has been manipulated to draw the plate portion of saidhinge element in toward said plate member.

6. An assembly for a hinge construction of the kind described andembodying therein a hinge element having oppositely facing hook shapedarms and a plate portion connecting one end of said arms together, aplate like member, means providing a guided movement of said hingeelement toward and away from said plate like member and about which saidhinge element may be turned from one position to another, and means onsaid plate-like member and adapted to be engaged by a part of said plateportion when the hinge element is in one position for preventing saidturning movement of said hinge element from said one position to saidanother position.

7. An assembly for a hinge construction of the kind described andembodying therein a hinge element having oppositely facing hook shapedarms and a plate portion connecting one end of said arms together,saidplate portion having an opening therethrough, a plate-like member, abolt extending through said opening in the plate portion and having athreaded engagement in said plate-like member and whereby said plateportion may be moved in the direction of the length of said bolt intoand out of engagement with said plate-like member, said plate portionand said plate-like member having interchangeable parts which preventthe turning of said hinge element upon the bolt when said plate portionand said plate-like element are engaged.

8. An assembly for a hinge construction of the kind described andembodying therein a hinge element having oppositely facing hook shapedarms and a plate portion connecting one end of said arms together, saidplate portion having an opening therethirough, a platelike member, abolt extending through said opening in the plate portion and having athreaded engagement in said plate-like member and. whereby said plateportion may be moved in the direction of the length of said bolt intoand out of engagement with said plate-like member, and a. ledge on saidplate-like member adapted'for engagement by a part of said plate portionso as to prevent its turning movement on the bolt when said plateportion and said plate-like member are engaged.

ROY E. LAVE.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,515, 01. April 6, 1915.

Page 5, secabie; and that the said Letters Patent should be read withthis correc- Henry Van Arsdale, Acting Commissioner of Patents.

